Absinthe City Guide Instructions

For this guide, our aim is to provide the most comprehensive resource for absintheurs as possible. If you have been to a city and have seen a bar or club that serves absinthe, or a store that sells it, feel free to add it here.

Before you do:

Check to make sure that the city isn't already listed. The sorting is done alphabetically by city.
- If it is, add your post within that thread.
- If it isn't, add a new thread, with the name of the city as the title of the thread.

Use a mapping system if at all possible. Link the location to something like Google maps. The more information, the better.

Also, if you have visited ANY of these locations and have updates, please post them as well do we can keep this as up to date as possible. If you can remark on what types of absinthe are offered, please add that information as well.

You forgot to add Seattle to the list. Have you forgotten that Seattle is the capitol of the absinthe world?

If you don't like anise at all, you're not likely to care for any decent absinthe, as absinthe is an anise flavored drink. It's kind of like asking if there are any good beers that don't taste like hops or malt.----Hiram

What's the threshold for inclusion? I notice you mostly have large cities on your list. Do you want small towns and cities as well? Or would it make sense to (for the USA) include states and major cities only?

Was there any consideration of putting this resource on the main WWS site? That would seem like an appropriate place for it.

I think that outside of the US, any town will work. I don't see an issue with it.

Inside the US, I think maybe stick to metro areas unless there's something really special. Or list small towns in the threads that correspond to the nearest metro area, kind of like what I did with Frankfurt.

Also, I don't really see the need to list liquor stores in the states that carry it, since we already know what they will be carrying, and also since most liquor stores are networked in most states.

Also, please refrain from adding posts to these threads that aren't adding anything factual. We don't want people having to sift through a bunch of meaningless posts to find the info. Those posts will be made invisible.

How about countries that don't have any absinthe at all? I recently went to Iceland and was really looking forward to buying a bottle to enjoy during my stay... only to find to my great dismay that it is illegal there! Had to have an absinthe-free holiday.

I don't know of any countries than ban it off the top of my head but I remember something about most Scandinavian countries not allowing anything over a certain proof. Absinthe being high proof would of course be illegal under those circumstances.

To Alan Moss... Believe me, I asked THREE TIMES IN THREE DIFFERENT PLACES because I was so disappointed. Yes, in the duty free shop when I was leaving I saw Pernod and.. no NOT Pernod absinthe, READ CAREFULLY! It was that absinthe-like stuff without wormwood... which would have been good enough, except it was not available anywhere except the duty free shop at the airport. It was called Pernod essence of absinthe or something, made under the country's strict regulations (says on the front label). Again, that would have been good enough and I would have happily bought it, but I only saw it at the airport duty free when I was leaving. I was very clearly told three times by BARTENDERS that absinthe is illegal in Iceland. This was less than two weeks ago.

I did check one liquor store, but it had no Pernod, no Pernod essence of absinthe, NO ABSINTHE. I didn't check every liquor store in Reykjavik, and if I had checked a bigger store I might have found that essence stuff... but after having been assured that absinthe was illegal I gave up, having no idea I might find a satisfactory (?) substitute.

Honestly, if you listen to bartenders, you'll end up with a flaming shot of day-glo paint thinner. Or better yet, asking for absinthe, the bartender saying "we don't have any of that" and having to point at the bottle you're talking about. Where it's probably possible those bars didn't have absinthe, and I'm positive the bartenders believed themselves to be right...I've found most of the time bartenders don't know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to absinthe.

To Alan Moss... Believe me, I asked THREE TIMES IN THREE DIFFERENT PLACES because I was so disappointed. Yes, in the duty free shop when I was leaving I saw Pernod and.. no NOT Pernod absinthe, READ CAREFULLY! It was that absinthe-like stuff without wormwood... which would have been good enough, except it was not available anywhere except the duty free shop at the airport. It was called Pernod essence of absinthe or something, made under the country's strict regulations (says on the front label).

You mean this? By "Pernod essence of absinthe," maybe you mean "Pernod aux extraits ..." The same as sold in the USA and elsewhere. I think the Wormwood Society classifies it as absinthe. And it would not be courteous of me to disparage a competitor's product, would it?!

Maybe the Iceland bartenders were correct, but I'm constantly told by prospective customers that "absinthe is illegal here," only to find it isn't.

Yes, maybe that was what I saw. The price, though... $27 as opposed to the $60 of the regular Pernod, made me think it was not what I was looking for. Again, had I seen it earlier in the trip I would have bought it in a sec.

As for not taking the word of the bartenders... I am a naturally suspicious person which is why I asked three times. I clearly wasn't going to find it in a bar. I even started asking for Pernod and couldn't find that either. There was one large liquor store that might have had it, but of course it was closed on Sunday, the day I happened by. IF absinthe is available in Iceland at all, it isn't readily available and I hope someone will please post WHERE I can find it in Iceland.